Michelle Obama, Ashton Kutcher and Beyonce have been warned to safeguard their bank accounts.
A growing list of celebrities, which also includes Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z, Donald Trump, Mel Gibson, Hulk Hogan, Britney Spears and Al Gore, have been targeted by hackers, who obtained their private account details, home addresses and social security numbers, and anonymously posted them online in a major US security breach.
A law enforcement source told gossip website TMZ.com that the celebrities have been warned by the FBI to contact their banks immediately to put fraud alerts on their accounts as the hackers are not simply publishing their information, they have already started “using” it.
The insider said the FBI has been “aggressively investigating” the situation and insisted that they knew about it before news of the hacking scandal broke on 11 March.
The source said: “This investigation did not start yesterday” and also revealed that private information belonging to FBI Director Robert Mueller has also been compromised.
The hacker’s website has disclosed detailed financial information about celebrities including the US First Lady, whose credit report, phone numbers, banking and mortgage information, and credit card details have all been leaked.
The US Justice Department confirmed they are investigating the leaked information on 12 March.
Authorities said many of the credit reports displayed on the site were generated earlier in March.
The name of the website, which also has an accompanying Twitter page, is not being publicised, but it is said to have a Russian Internet suffix and a cover message that reads, “If you believe that God makes miracles, you have to wonder if Satan has a few up his sleeve.”